The Rose Quartz Arrowhead

In the hamlet of Littafuchee, Alabama, in 1985, the KIRWIN family faces hardships and adventures in a crossroads community, an admixture of hilarious and murderous eccentrics. The Rose Quartz Arrowhead explores the reality of rural life decades ago when guns, brutality, segregation, patriarchy, and feuds ruled a closed system. As two of the keepers of the Native American rose quartz arrowhead (which represents the spirit of unconditional love when worn close to the heart), the Kirwin family’s two matriarchs do some lively storytelling about early family history. They and other locals offer insight into southern similes and metaphors, such as “the trouble with kittens is they grow up to be cats” and “dirt under my fingernails means food on our table.” Including wisdom from Alabama writers, lyricists, and pundits, this novel considers the old-timers’ dilemma: What happens when there is nobody to inherit the land? And the girl who inherits the rose quartz necklace is empowered having learned that loving deeply is both the reward and the source of pain for lives intermeshed. Built on a foundation of southern storytelling, this coming-of-age novel for older teens and adults tells the story of one family dealing with the joys and struggles of rural Alabama life.